Well, what a day this has been!! It started out pretty early, with Tuberoller and Ray Samuels arriving at 9:30 AM!! By the time the last guest arrived, we basically packed every single square inch of the first floor of my house with gear and power cords! Thankfully, we had a nice day, and many a Head-Fi'er found his way outside to chat about life and such.
I wanted to send out a special thanks to HeadRoom, who provided some very nice gear for our meet. This was an especially nice treat, as the gear in question was equiped with their new premium electronics module. I spent a couple of days prior to the meet listening to the new HeadRoom Max, and I have to tell you that I like it a lot. I would describe the new sound as being slightly more forward than other HeadRoom gear I've heard, but without sounding harsh. The bass was nice and tight, and with good extension. The treble was rich and smooth. The midrange is what really makes a great amp great, and this is where I've always thought that HeadRoom excels. The new module did not disappoint in this regard.
As usual, the BlockHead was a tremendous hit. We were fortunate enough to have one with stepped attenuators, and I'll tell you that it's a nice feature with this particular amp!! The BlockHead is still the only amp that I've heard that quite manages to really bring sound staging to life. If one closes one's eyes, it's almost like being there. One of my favorite qualities about HeadRoom amps is that they just seem to fade into the background, and all that you have left is the music. The BlockHead never seems to disappoint in this way.
Of course, it always helps to have a good source to pair with the BlockHead. This time we had it connected to a Meridian G08 and a Wadia 302. I like both of these players a lot, and could certainly make due with either. I'm a big fan of the Wadia signature sound (high level of detail and soundstaging, without added high-end harshness), and they really did right when they updated from the 301 to the 302. Don't get me wrong...I liked the 301 a lot. The 302 to me seems more musical, less analytical, and just nicely more refined. The G08 was a nice box, but it seemed less forward in its presentation than the Wadia. My taste runs more to the Wadia signature, but I can see why so many are such Meridian fans.
As has been the case for the last few Detroit meets, we had Ray Samuels and his fine equipment to enjoy. For those who have not met Ray, he's a genuinely good fellow, and has one of the better senses of humor around. I can't imagine what he and Tuberoller must be like on the road trip in to these meets. Ray brought along a very nice selection of gear, including the Stealth, HR-2, XP-7, a very nice vinyl rig (with his phono stage), and what I think is destined to be a killer product - the SR-71 portable headphone amp. This little jewel was first introduced to me at the Chicago meet, and I can't say enough good things about it. It's the only truly portable amp that I've heard that is good enough to power a home source with little or no compromise. It's really that good. If the HD players keep improving on their sound, the XR-71 will be ready to take it to the next level.
Another special thanks goes out to Tuberoller, who is a one man meet with all the gear that he brings along. This time, in addition to the sweet Meridian player, we were treated to the Stax Omega II and Music Hall Maverick SACD player. I have to admit that I really liked the Stax when I heard it in Chicago. I have a feeling that it might not be the best gear to evaluate in a crowded meet setting, however, as it is very open. I listened to it here, earlier on, in a quiet room, with some music that I know very well (Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson). This time, although it sounded very good, I'm not sure sure that it sounded very right. The presentation of different instruments seemed out of balance. The piano seemed recessed into the background, while other instruments seemed more pronounced. Overall, my feelings are mixed with regard to the Stax Omega II, but I can see why it has so many fans.
As for the Music Hall Maverick, I liked it a LOT as a redbook player. However, I was not so crazy about it as an SACD player. Go figure?
I really enjoyed having an opportunity to listen to jmzzz01's tubed Dynaco tuner. I'd pretty much written off FM radio, as most of the tuners that I'd heard lately were not so great. This one, however, was quite different. The music seemed to have a fluidity and life that I'd not associated with FM radio in the days since I became an audiophile (er...stereo wierdo
). It was a nice addition to the meet, and I'm glad to have had an opportunity to give it a listen.
One of the nice things about organizing a meet is that you get a chance to audition a lot of gear in non-meet settings. Such was the case this time around as well. I completely recabled my home rig to accommodate (through loop outs) my ASL MG-Head OTL/32, the new HeadRoom Max, and reynman's Eddie Current HD300. I spent a lot of time listening to all of them over the course of the week, and will post more detailed impressions as time allows. However, I liked the Eddie Current a lot. It's a very sweet, tubey sounding amp, and a nice value to boot. My one complaint is that it seemed VERY sensitive to movement while listening, but other than that I was very much impressed. Thanks reynman for offering to let me take it to the Detroit meet, and thanks to bhd812 for ensuring its safe return to Chicago.
I'm also pleased to have had an opportunity to listen to chosen1's PPA. This is without question the best DIY effort that I've heard yet. I'd heard a PPA at one of the Chicago meets, and ended up buying an XP-7. I thought it was nice, but a bit dry and uninvolving. Not so with this one. Clearly, chosen1 has put a lot of effort into making this piece, as I suspect that photos will show (whenever they are up). All I could say was WOW!! A very nice finished product. I also enjoyed (once I figured out how to use it) his NEC CD-Rom drive and his Parasound DAC. An interesting combination that yielded some nice results. Jude then hooked up his Bel Canto DAC2 to the uber-PPA, and I was frankly stunned at just how good it sounded. Thanks to chosen1 for bringing his fine PPA.
I finally had a chance to listen to the Grace 901, thanks to WadiaMeister. This is a nice amp, with good tight bass and nice detailed presentation without sounding overly analytical. It does pick up every little resolved detail, however. I suspect that this might have been one of the reasons that I wasn't so crazy about the Music Hall Maverick as an SACD player. However, I did like it a great deal with the Wadia 302, which is a very resolved CD player, so maybe that's not the reason. I listened to it with both my AKG K501's and with bhd812's Grado PS-1's. The K501's sounded good, but the Grace 901 is practically made for the PS-1's. Nice, big, open, out-front presentation, with realism in the bass and crisp clean highs without harshness. A nice combo. It's too bad that I didn't get a chance to listen to it with the AKG K1000 (no adapter plug), or use it as a DAC, so I can't offer much opinion about that. However, it's a nice amp. I suspect that if one has a need for the built-in DAC, it's an especially good value.
I also wanted to thank The_Mac, who burned some tracks from a couple of my favorite CD's so that I could listen to them on his computer rig. It sounded quite nice, and the fact that he could do so well with a relatively modest (per his description...I really know very little about these things
) soundcard tells me a lot about where computer audio is going in the short run. The_Mac also brought his friend Ben to the meet, and he seemed to have a good time (although I almost threw him out after a couple of particularly bad jokes/puns
).
As usual, there was some gear that I was unable to get around to listening to. It seemed like we spent a lot of time talking at these meets. I know that I really enjoyed meeting a couple of the new folks, and getting reacquainted with some of the fellas that I'd not seen in some time. There were wide ranging topics discussed, from various audio-related things to Jude's new baby to driving cars to Ray Samuels' wife chewing out a service station owner (both speaking Polish!!) for leaving "inappopriate" magazines in plain view of children. It really was a riot, and I want to thank all the folks who came and made the meet such a nice event. A special thanks to the folks who drove from Chicago (Ray Samuels, Tuberoller, bhd812) and the west side of the state (babykenny). Oh, and a big merci beaucoup to our Canadian contingent (The_Mac and his friend Ben), who (along with Ray Samuels' talk of his trip to Poland) made our meet a truly international event to remember.
I also want to thank my wife, who helped to get everything all set up, and kept my children entertained all day while we had our meet. She also didn't flip out when she discovered that every square inch of available space was taken up with gear!! What can I say...I married well.
Oh, and by the way...Mrs. Elrod had some very nice things to say about the mongol horde that took over our house for the afternoon. She said that you were all polite, considerate, didn't trash our house or spill drinks all over the place (I think that the only person who did spill a drink all day was me
), didn't overstay their welcome, and cleaned up after themselves. I told her that she just didn't know you all as well as I did
. Seriously, she says that we're welcome to have a meet at my house any time we like...although, given the relatively modest size of my house, I think that an outdoor escape hatch is crucial...I'm thinking late spring, summer and early fall for this place.
Thanks again everyone...I had a great time, and I hope that you all did as well. See you at the next meet!!
